Method of making hats



Aug 29, 1933 v. P. WRITER METHOD OF MAKlNG HATSf Original Filed Jan. 4, 1930 present invention in one'of its lembodiments or Patented 29,Y

l i OriginalaiiplicaticnfJanuary4; `1930; ESerial No.` Y;

This inventionrelatesto means and V4a method for the manufacture of hats, and relates-particu-4 i larly to the manufacture of thestyle of hatsknown u as Tam O Shantersl `or br'ets. I'ti Will be :deft-- scribed `Witlfi particularY reference to the'fmanu- This application is a 1930. l* s In the manufaeturellof hats of y thev type lmentioned, especially when madeout .of nonfwoven cloth such as matted felt,` or the like, it has been impossible to obtain a satisfactory bret made from a single piece of cloth except by slowhand methods ofshaping which have been laborious and in'ipracticable.` 'VI have heretoforefdiscovered that satisfactory and Arapid results in themanufacture of one piece brets can'beobtained by means of the machine and method disclosed and claimed in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,725,500 issued to me on August 20, 1929. The

applications relates to improved means to be used in connection with the machine and method of* said patent; and to 'improvements inthe method of manufacture therein disclosed.

It is `an object ofthe presentinvention to pro-.

vide means whereby bret's may be morerapidly fashioned, may be producedin a greater ,variet'yf 30 l l t ,of texture and materials, and wherebythe method of manufacture is very greatly speeded upland facilitated with accompanying,improvement and, standardization ofthe iinished product. "It is also l an object of the 'present invention sov `to improve upon the process disclosed in my prior`- Letters Patent abovereferred to as to accomplish other objects hereinafterset forth. f i j t ,In the drawingwhich accompanies this specification similar parts are designated by the saine xreference numerals throughout.` i

Fig. i a cross-section of my machine.' 'l

i show 4bret making the method of @faxing the drawstiin around the circumference of the cloth t 4ble 'from ,"hich the be'ret is to be made. .E s ioi in perspective the cloth 21 of Fig.

2 il vn abou nel forming element 4,7prior`to innlthe press.

l l. fifjhe'lower lhasan upstanding 2 dening its marginal edge and provides a fiat-contacting surface Bfupongwhich the cloth rests during the. pressing. operation. The shaping element 4 isa flat circular disc hav,-

5 'ing sufficient thickness at the edges to preventin` division of my co-pending i application Serial Number 418,461, led Januaryiy, n Y f 'i i Y inany dcsiredway.` Inordinary"practised-'heat' shouf-n) maybe employe the former as shown in Fig.y "1.5 Any means or the" operator vWhoWcrlfI-s `through thefopening in i airing machine is shown in cross-l n 'Y i l A jury is the ibm .at the point di fiexuij'e inicio `permit it to move smoothly over said edgesvvhenv the pulling and stretching operation takes place.I

The upper die ff-6 `is annularin shape and-con- ,tains a central opening as shown in Fig. Lithe sine of which determines thehead size of).I hat Whichcisto'be madebylthe machine.4 *Eitherjiorw n steam coils '77,'. 'larranged to` heattheupperidie.;

oyheat., tl. levier. die 1f '0K' .any other method, Qt heating. :such aS- ses l:

or electrioityr nay lbei-resorted toyvith respect to` 'either the .upperor the lower dies.

The methody of operation employed in connec tion Withfmy vbret making machine as follows: A .circularI cloth blank 21 of thei desired material is cut of a suitable size and a drawstring or clip,-V

cord 16 isattached around the :periphery thereof i by a cri-sseross stitch shown in plan vView in Fig.'

t 2Qand`i'n cross-section at'lS in Fig.` 1. Thisma- 'teriaL While still dry;` is drawn 'as tightly as `re- 1 I, `quired upon the shaping element 4,'as shown in 3, by pulling tight the slip-cord `16. The ma terial yis thendampened with -Waterand inserted betiveen'the dies in the machine Which have been heated. -The upper and lower dies are theny brc'ughtinto engagement withO the material upon method of causing these dies to exert pressure Aupon the'clothand'V shaping element between Ytheifn maybe employed.` v Qne such means and method is described in myV issuedy patentabove 9'0 lreferred to, When the upper and Vlowerdies'liavev i .Y thus` `been brought intoV engagement with vthe forming element as shoWninFig. 1,1thejdravvj stringfl `is manually tightened still lfurther by the upper die and thusgin` thepresence of moisl ture and heat, themcloth 21` is pulled upwardlyf and radially inward over theperiphery ofthe y.

shaping element 4 toward its center.4 The effect lofn'ioisfture and Aheat causes" theV material toi-y stretchfto a `substantial degree `when pulledV by the drawstring and 'this'stretching isan' important feature fof my -methddof `making `bret's'.

Hencegthe use of the'drawstring is 'an important Y c feature ofthe-invention ras` itigivers Ynoticeably greater speed and efficiency to the entire opera- .iiorij4 After Vthe pulling hasfbeen completed the cloth is left inthe press for a Isuitable length of found, has the ei'ect of causingjall the wrinkles to concentrate in the waste material inthe center opening and to leave a smooth surfaeelelserwhere on the upper and'lower` surfaces of the shaping element. After a suitable length ottime, which maybe from three toten minutes, a sharp'cutting edge is applied atthe point 8, 8 to sever the waste 'material gathered in the center of ,the

press and in which all of the wrinkles have `been concentrated.V With some Vkinds of cloth maf terials, the cutting maybe done immediatelyy at the conclusion of the pulling operation, and ,be-ff fore drying of` the cloth iscomplete." When the cloth has becomesuiliciently dry, `it is released.

from the pressure of the upper and lowerv dies Y and taken oiT the forming element. 'The material j may then be turned inside out, and an elastic" band aflixed aroundY thehead opening inthe usual manner; n y I donot desire to be limited tohfthe specific forms ofthe device shown .in the accompanying drawing and specification, but intend vthat the same shall embrace all forms of the invention falling within the scope of the appended claims.

-I vclaim v 1,-TheV` steps inthe method of.r manufacturing Y hats which comprise attaching a drawstring near the periphery of a blank of hat-formingmateri'al,

drawing the periphery ofv said blank by means of #saidV drawstring radiallyrv inward over the upper' face .of aformingjelement a substantial portiony of whose upper face adjacent its edgeY liesin ya plane parallel tothe plane of its under face, mois-l tening saidY materal,compressing the ,material 'ing element, pressing" thecloth blank upon said' v ing in vsaid hat. A

cloth, drawing the blankby means of saiddrawstring around a forming element sofas to partially envelopV the same, holding the marginalY edges of said blank in contracted circularfposition 1 adjacentthe upperfcentral portion of said 'form element mithepr'esence of heat and moisture'to causejthe cloth toV conform tothe shape thereof, and 'cutting away theV contracted marginal edge of said" blank containing said drawstring to'iorrn l a headopening inA said hat; Y

V3. The process of making hats-*which cornprises attaching a drawstring adjacentV the mar` ginal edge-.of ablankof-hat-formng cloth, drawing said blank by means of said drawstring 'around a formingelernent, holding the `marginal edgeA 150 of said blank by means of said drawstringin' contracted position adjacent saidd forming f elef mentjpressing a portion of said Vblank against said` forming element.v `in the presence of yheat and moisture, and trimming away waste material 135V containing said drawstring to form a. head-open- VICTOR P. WRITER; Y Y 

